Evan speaks Spanish!

I walked Evan to school today. Then, I walked back home and it was time to turn around and come right back to school for Evan’s parent-teacher conference. Morry worked from home today, so we went together with Noah to meet Wendy. It was fun hearing about Evan and how he is doing at school. Wendy said he’s doing great and meeting all the developmental milestones. It really seems like she takes the time to get to know the kids. She said the only thing Evan needs to work on is cleaning up, especially after lunch. She said after lunch he just wants to run off and play.

Morry picked Evan up at school. When he got home I noticed there were stamps on his arm and I asked where he got them. He said Ms. Aranza gave them to him during Spanish. I asked what he learned in Spanish class and he said “ojos (eyes)”. I was so impressed. I asked where his ojos were and he pointed to his eye. I asked Evan what else he learned and he pointed to his nose and then said “nariz.”

Blanca came at 2:00. I had an appointment for a mammogram. My doctor and I figured it was a good idea to get a baseline test since there is a history of cancer in the family. After the mammogram I had some time to kill before tutoring so I went over to Marshall’s. I went there to look for shoes for Evan, but didn’t find any wides in his size. They had some great deals and I bought a few things for me.

I got home at 8. We just put the boys to bed.


I just wanted to add…. When we were getting Evan ready for bed tonight, he was at his sink drinking some water and he spilled it on his pajama top. I brought him in his room to get another top. He wanted the truck pajamas, so I put the top on. He wanted the bottoms of the truck pajamas too, but I refused since the pajama pants he had on where fine and dry. Well, when Morry went upstairs to put Evan back to bed Evan said, “I put these on.” Morry looked down and saw Evan had taken off his other pajama pants, got his truck pajama pants out of his drawer, and put them on by himself.

Morry’s Back

Last night Noah woke up at 4am for some reason. I couldn’t find his pacifier in his room and had to run downstairs to get another. By that time Noah was screaming. I had to rock him a while to get him calmed down.

This morning Manuela (Ana’s nanny from Mexico) came over to take care of the boys so I could tutor. I would have had Blanca come, but Blanca has classes in the morning. I tutored from 10-12. I met one of my students at the library to help him study for the math part of the GRE. Manuela said the boys did well. Manuela pretty much only speaks Spanish, but can understand a little English. It was good practice for me.

When I got home I took Evan and Noah in the front yard. Evan played on his motorized car for a little bit, but then wanted to ride his bike. He’s really getting good at riding his tricycle. He was peddling and steering on his own. While we were outside we saw Blanca and Rita. Evan was showing off for Blanca.

Evan and Noah took great naps today. They each slept about 3 hours!

We made pasta for dinner tonight and then took a short walk

Whew!

Man, it’s tough taking care of the boys alone.

This morning I took them to Ruta Maya (a coffee shop) for a kid’s show. Noah loved watching and listening to the lady play guitar. Evan loved the last song about bubbles because she had a bubble machine blowing bubbles for all the kids.

After Ruta Maya we went to HEB.

Then, we came home, ate lunch, and went to Kevin’s 3rd birthday party.

The weather was great and they had most of the party outside. Evan painted and was easily the messiest kid there. See pictures below. They even had baby toys and a mat for the few babies that were there. Since the boys didn’t have a nap it was sort of tough by the end of the party. Noah fell asleep in my arms and Evan was acting pretty tired.

At the party Evan was playing with Kevin’s Diego Doll and I found it interesting that Evan was being very gentle with the doll and holding it like a baby.

I had planned on giving Evan a bath or shower when we got home and then just making pasta for dinner. Alissa called and asked if we would like to go out to dinner with her and Molly and then she could help me bathe the boys.

We went to Chipotle. The kids were good, but Evan didn’t each much. At home Alissa helped me give Noah and Evan a bath. She was a big help. It would have been very hard for me to do that on my own.

Today is Nolan’s birthday so I had Evan and Noah send a video greeting to him. I posted it to YouTube, so you should be able to see the video at the bottom of this page.

Just me and the boys

Morry’s in Pittsburgh now. He left early this morning.

Evan, Noah, and I had a busy morning. The first part of the morning was rough. I needed to do a few things around the house and Noah would cry every time I put him down.

Our printer ran out of one of the colors of ink and it won’t even let you print in black and white until you replace the cartridge. I ordered some ink online through Circuit City since they have the store pick up option. It’s great. You can just order and pay for it online and then they guarantee it will be ready at the store in 24 minutes.

We left the house around 11. The first place we went was Old Navy. I decided to try and see if they would honor the coupon I got yesterday. I got a coupon though email right after I had just purchased a lot. Since the coupon was 30% off, I decided to give it a try. I had no problems. They honored the coupon for the stuff I bought yesterday and they credited us $37. So, I would say it was worth it. Then we went to the mall parking lot to meet a woman who was buying 2 of our UT vs A&M football tickets.

We bought season tickets for the University of Texas football games. We thought we go to a few games and sell the rest. It’s very hard to get tickets to the football games so we thought this would be a great way to go to the games and maybe make a little bit of money. I think we paid $1500 for 4 seats for 7 home games. The face value of the tickets ranged from $60-$90 depending on the game. We went to a few games and the ones we couldn’t go to we sold the tickets to our friends at face value (which let’s us make a little money since they give a little discount when buying season tickets). There is one game left. It’s a big one against Texas A&M. We can’t go to that one because it is over Thanksgiving and figured we could make some good money selling the tickets. The face value is $90/ticket. I put them on Craigslist and got quite a few responses. The lady today bought 2 tickets for $300. We made $60/ticket so far. I have someone else who is interested in the other 2 at the same price. Let’s hope it works out.

After meeting for the ticket exchange. We stopped at Payless to return shoes I had bought for Evan for Chicago that he didn’t wear. Then, we went to Circuit City to pick up the ink. Evan had a great time at Circuit City. On the big screen TVs they were showing Kung Fu Panda.

Then, we went to the library to pick up a few kid’s videos we had on hold.

They boys were so great on all the errands that I took them to a nearby park to play for a little bit before going home. It was a neat “old school” park. They had lots of the equipment I remember playing on as a kid that many parks don’t have any more. There was a merry-go-round, see-saws, a big metal slide, … It was Evan’s first time on a merry-go-round and he loved it. I started out slow because I wasn’t sure if he would like it. We were the only people on the playground. There were some older men playing tennis right next to the playground. Evan was very excited to see them play tennis.

We came home. Evan had a good lunch. He ate a whole peanut butter and jelly sandwich, string cheese, snap peas, and applesauce.

I started another blog…this one is for money saving and making tips. I have had lots of friends ask me about how I save money, win things, get free stuff, etc. So, I set up a separate blog just for that. We’ll see if I’ll be able to keep it up. http://chachingqueen.blogspot.com/

Busy Friday

Last night Noah didn’t go to sleep until 2am. He would not sleep. I rocked him for a long time and then was able to put him in his crib without him crying. I woke up around 7:30am to the neighbor’s dog barking – still a problem and wakes at least one of us the majority of the mornings.

At 10:30 Yenis and Kevin came over to borrow some of Evan’s toys for Kevin’s birthday party on Sunday.

Then, at 11:00 Ana brought Manuela (her nanny) over to meet the boys. Manuela is going to babysit for Evan and Noah next week on Monday and Wednesday mornings when I tutor. Blanca has class at that time so I asked Ana (a mom in the playgroup) if her nanny would be available.

They stayed for about 30-45 min. Then, I took the boys shopping. We went to Old Navy first. I heard they were having a sale on winter coats. Evan outgrew his coat and we needed a coat for him for the one week it gets really cold here in the winter.

After Old Navy we went to Kohls. We needed to buy some birthday presents. Kohls is having a sale on toys, plus I had a coupon. We got a good deal.

After Kohls we came home for a little bit and then went to Matt and Alissa’s house to hang out with Alissa and the kids. Evan had a great time playing with Geo Tracks and Ben and Molly’s other toys.

We came home and fed Noah and then went out to dinner at Hyde Park. After dinner, we stopped at the bookstore so Morry could get some books for his trip. Of course I had a coupon. :)

We had a successful day of shopping. The only bad thing, is just now I checked my email and I got a coupon for 30% off at Old Navy. I wonder if I can go in there and get them to give me the discount on the stuff I bought today. Is it worth the effort? I’ll think about it.

I’m worried Evan might be getting sick. When we got home from the Podber’s Evan was very clingy and not acting like his usual self. Morry thought he felt warm and looked like he didn’t feel well. We took his temperature and it was normal. We thought maybe he was just really tired since he didn’t nap. But tonight before bed I took his temperature again and he has a slight fever, 99.7. I’ll have to check again in the morning and see how he’s doing.

Trying to feel better

So, today was my turn to bring in snacks for Evan’s class. Every other Thursday is pizza day and the moms take turns bringing in sides or snacks to go with the pizza. I (with Evan’s help) made blueberry muffins last night and cut up some apples and grapes. Last night Evan wanted a blueberry muffin, but we told him he had to wait until school to eat one and he could tell everyone he helped make them.

Well, as soon as we got to school today Evan ran up to Wendy and told her about the muffins and that he helped make them.

Before school I left Noah at home with Blanca. After dropping Evan off I went to Starbucks to tutor. A 63 year-old man going back to school needs help with the math part of the GRE so he contacted me. It was our first time meeting so we met at Starbucks. Most likely we’ll meet twice a week for a couple of hours until he takes the GRE in January or February.

After tutoring I came home and did some stuff around the house. I washed clothes, fed Noah, and ate lunch. Then it was time to get Evan.

Evan seemed tired when I picked him up. In his folder there was a picture he had made. It is on blue construction paper and looks like maybe they used some kind of chalk. Under the drawing it says, “It’s and airplane!”

Noah took a nap, but Evan didn’t. He just played in his room for a little bit.

Blanca came at 4 and then I went to tutor 2 more students. I came back at 7:30. Morry made pizza for us for dinner.

I’m feeling better today, though still not great. I took Mucinex last night and it helped me sleep. I just hope the boys don’t get sick. Morry said he’s starting to feel sick. Hopefully, he doesn’t get sick. He’ll be in some very cold and wet weather in just a few days. I'm on antibiotics so I don't think I'm contagious now.